Workers and activists held a rally on Feb. 6 near the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, where a union drive has drawn national attention.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergAmazon Union Is a Tough Sell in Town Where $15 an Hour Goes a Long Way
Supporters say the campaign in Bessemer, Alabama, is the best chance yet to breach the company’s anti-union defenses, but workers remain wary.
On a rainy Saturday afternoon in early February, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union held a rally in a grassy lot a five-minute drive from Amazon.com Inc.’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. Organizers handed out pizzas supplied by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a long-time Amazon critic. Members of the Teamsters had traveled to Bessemer to lend their support, some from as far away as Boston. Workers and activists brandished signs with such slogans as “Don’t Back Down” and “Our Community Supports Amazon Workers.”
Inclement weather aside, the event seemed to have all the ingredients needed to fire up workers keen to take on Amazon. Yet the crowd that day numbered about 50, including activists, out-of-towners and media, and many of Bernie’s pizzas were uneaten when the rally ended about an hour later.